BBC Radio Orchestra

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The BBC Radio Orchestra was a broadcasting orchestra based in London, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1964 until 1991.

The BBC Radio Orchestra was formed in 1964 as a large, flexible studio orchestra on the Nelson Riddle/Henry Mancini model, featuring a full jazz Big Band combined with symphonic strings.^[1] The various sections of the Radio Orchestra, prefixed A-E, could be used for different kinds of recordings and sessions. Of all these sections, only the "C1" big band section of the Radio Orchestra had its own real identity and was known as the BBC Radio Big Band. The orchestra’s primary function was to accompany popular singers in ‘cover versions’ and play instrumental arrangements of the popular tunes of the day on BBC Radio 2, as in the 1960s, broadcasting regulations meant the BBC was only allowed to play five hours of commercial gramophone records per day on air. However, the Radio Orchestra did play a great deal of jazz and light music by leading light composers and arrangers including Robert Farnon,^[2] Angela Morley^[3] and Nelson Riddle, Neil Richardson, Ron Goodwin and Leon Young. At its peak it was considered one of the finest studio orchestras in the world.

The BBC Radio Orchestra was disbanded in 1991, with the BBC Big Band retained as a full-time ensemble till 1994 when the corporation made the band a freelance unit, whilst allowing it to retain its name and identity.